TIRANA, Feb 6 /ATA/ – EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has urged the ruling majority and the opposition in Albania to put aside differences and united behind the EU integration reforms, saying she will propose a cross-party pact to speed up the EU accession bid.
Speaking in a Brussels panel alongside the Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha and the Greek Ambassador Ioannis Vrailas, the EU Enlargement Commissioner forwarded the proposal for a national pact to accelerate the country’s EU membership, emphasizing the need for for a collective effort.
“Make EU accession a national project,” Kos said, citing Slovenia’s example and strategy of bipartisan support for its EU membership.
EU Enlargement named Albania and Montenegro as frontrunners for EU accession by 2030.
According to her, 10 intergovernmental conferences will take place during the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union to close crucial clusters of accession negotiations with Tirana and Podgorica.
On his part, Albanian Ambassador to EU, Ferit Hoxha, expressed Albania’s readiness to conclude the accession negotiations by 2027, saying EU’s readiness for enlargement is real now.
“We are ready to finish negotiations by 2027 and join the EU by the decade’s end,” Hoxha said,
Greek Ambassador to EU, Ioannis Vrailas, highlighted Albania’s strengthening ties with the neighboring Greece and called for continued focus on reforms.
Participants underlined that the EU must prepare to accommodate 30 members as enlargement progresses.
/Klan//r.e/u.sh/
